Download STATUS Total Maximum Daily Load Progress Report Garcia River Watershed Sediment TMDL

Total Maximum Daily Load Progress Report
Regional Water Board
Beneficial uses affected:
Pollutant(s) addressed:
Implemented through:
Approval date:
North Coast, Region 1
COLD, COMM, EST, MIGR, SPWN
Sediment
Waiver of WDRs, Discharge
Prohibitions
January 3, 2002
Garcia River Watershed Sediment TMDL
STATUS
TMDL Summary
The Garcia River Watershed is impaired by excess sediment
and elevated temperatures. The cause of the impairment is
primarily attributed to past land use activities such as
logging, gravel mining, agriculture, timberland conversion,
and removal of stream large woody material. These activities
disrupted freshwater habitats required by a number of
aquatic organisms, including several species of threatened or
endangered salmon and trout.
The Garcia River TMDL Action Plan provides landowners with
three compliance options to address erosion problems on
their properties and establishes numeric targets and instream water quality goals for restoring the cold‐water
fishery habitats. Water quality goals can be achieved by (1)
reducing the controllable sources of sediment as required by
the TMDL Action Plan, (2) improving the capacity of the
riparian zone to filter mobile sediment, or (3) adding
structural elements to the channel. These implementation
actions can improve the capacity of the in-stream system to
efficiently transport delivered sediment and create usable
habitat. The TMDL Action Plan is expected to improve instream conditions by 2049.
Garcia River Watershed
Area in Compliance with TMDL
Garcia River TMDL Compliance Efforts (Acres)
12,874
Water Quality Outcomes

Landowners with properties totaling approximately
82% of the watershed are working to control erosion
and improve the riparian condition.

Several miles of lower mainstem stream banks have
been stabilized through bioengineering projects.

Large wood augmentation projects are ongoing and
have been implemented across approximately 10
stream miles to improve habitat for coho salmon and
steelhead trout.

The Nature Conservancy and NCRWQCB have been
collecting watershed data (physical, biological, and
chemical) since 2007. U.S. EPA is currently assisting
with water quality data analysis. The status of
watershed conditions will be reported upon in 20132014.
60,349
Area in Compliance with TMDL
Area with TMDL Compliance to be Determined
 Conditions Improving
 Data Inconclusive
 Improvement Needed
 TMDL Achieved/Waterbody Delisted
Updated September 2013